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I
Watched the Horses Galloping
“What are you watching?”
“I watch the horses
galloping.”
“What are you
watching?”
“Amhi ghotokong
dekkhohi.”
“What are you
watching?”
* “Yashmeeshwong
sposhyath.”
“What are you
watching?”
* “Eshwom
speshiethey.”
“What do you see?”
* “Ekkyom…”
The sea roared
furiously and raised foams as innumerous white fangs against the gigantic
black mountain ridges. The water demons gushed into the dark caves of the
inferno howling as monstrous animals. The water demons – a herd of
smoldering elephants seemed to approach from the deep wells of indigo. The
trunks of the elephants appear to suck the bowels of azure. The sea swelled.
The blue elephants resembling water demons ransack the sky. A sound of swift
motion pierced through the darkness of the forest…
“What are you
watching?”
* “Yus ekkyom
spekiyethey!”
I watched the horses
galloping. Clip, clop, clip, clop…The horses galloped on the pebbles through
the mountains …. Clip, clop, clip, clop. The trotting of the horses echoed
against the stony cracks, notched fissures and unknown fossils- clip, clop,
clip, clop. They came with the sparkling of a sawing horn and threat of a
hidden talon and pointed tooth of a wild beast from the dire forest- clip,
clop, clip, clop. Their manes were conflagrated and set ablaze. There were
countless flames and myriad tresses.
I watched the
horses. The horses strutted, trotted, galloped, tossed, plunged and panted.
Their manes scattered fire and they raced. I chased them and the flames
followed me. I race with the inflamed manes and the burning ruddy molten
rocks came after me.
I ran.
“Who are you?”
“I am running.”
“Who are you?”
“I am racing.” A
horse leaped up at me through the hills. Far away I saw the neighing horses
agitating the clouds.
“Who are you?”
I kept running…
They kept running
until they chased the beast at the end of a cliff. The animal stood on top
of a big rock on the mountain with its defiant but exhausted head, ready to
attack with its sharp horns. The solid joints of its four limbs shone as the
blazing rocks of the mountains. The snarling fur on its thick skin growing
as the sharp blades of grass stood up in tufts. The animal’s long tongue
drooped and splattered its thick saliva on the rock.
They screamed in
applaud. Some of them had big stones and others had sharp stone planks with
which they could easily slit the throat of the animal. The animal’s
shrieking sound surpassed their ovation into the darkness of the deep
forest. Another reverberation echoed in the forest at that time but they did
not take notice of that. Their flung stones appeared as big smoky clouds in
the sky that stormed down vertical on the animal. They rejoiced in happiness
dragging the corpse out of the gorge as the animal is forced to jump off the
steeps. They dropped their stone shields with humming approbations and put
to rout the carcass of the animal.
The moon rose in the
sky. The silvery rays like bright white stone blades penetrated through the
dark bough of the trees and perforated the hard red soil scorched. They
danced along the moonlight rays with lumps of flesh in their hand. They
smelt the meat with their wide nostrils. It smelt of wild fresh blood. Their
dazzling eyes beneath the bushy eye-brows danced in happiness. Sometime they
stooped their back or rejoiced with uplifted arms. Other times they
restlessly swung all along the branches of trees. Another scream was heard
from the darkness of the forest. This time they heard the shrieking sound.
It was I who yelled
for help from the bleak jungle. I didn’t find any gorge to escape. I was
hiding myself behind a big rock and supporting my body in it. The lower part
of my body was getting heavier every day. I could no longer be with my clan
to chase big wild beasts from caves or the jungle. Neither could I throw
stones at them or pierce sharp spear made from branches and drag their
carcasses into the open spaces. I began to be worried about myself. My body
grew so large that I looked visible different from them. I always tried to
hide myself from them because if they noticed my they would stone me to
death. They chased anyone they saw resembled me and tear their lower part of
their body with their sharp nails. They used to previously crunch upon the
little soft creatures, like them or us that came out from our swollen lower
portion. Now they drifted them away in the ocean that attracted the fishes
to the shore and they caught those fish with spears made of stone.
But I knew if I
could hide myself long enough the little soft creature growing inside me can
burst open. I felt its movement inside me. My body became so heavy that it
was difficult to bend my neck and walk on my hind legs. I had to crawl to
move and the lumps on my chest almost touched the ground. They grew as heavy
as stones. My hard swollen dropping tits collided on the blocks of stone.
They throbbed in pain. I tied them to my body with leaves and vines and I
also covered the enlarged lower portion of my body. That reduced my pain a
bit. If they saw me they would tear open my bindings. One day their whole
group pulled and twisted at my nipples and examined them. They were oozing
forth some kind of sap. Some of them sucked at them with their thick lips.
It was as if they swallowed my whole breast. I was so sacred that they tried
to eat me raw. I took of my vine bindings. I kept running and they chased me
with their stone weapons. They threw stones at me making clattering sounds.
Some beasts with horns dashed across me. They clipped, clopped, clipped,
clopped on the stone pass and sparked fire underneath their hooves.
One of them caught
me. The curls on their back shone like dry grass and I could smell the smoke
burning some where. He lifted me on his shoulder and ran. He carried me
behind a rock and caressed on my inflated body part. He carefully applied
some liquid on my nipple with his tongue. I started feeling better and felt
warm underneath my skin. Some sap spouted out from my tits. The shadows of
the rocks grew dim and the tribe left finding me nowhere.
The horses came
galloping under the shade of the mountains. I could hear their trotting
sound. I embraced him in the coldness and darkness of the cave and the
horses suddenly leap on us. I watched the horses. The horses that came from
the gigantic volcanic mountains stabbed me with their spear made of burning
red lava. The molten rock perforated my bloated body part. I could not bear
the sever pain. We tried to defend against the huge beast by thrusting sharp
stones and braches at it. I was touched by the animal’s death pain. He
became furious at me for this and scratched and tore apart my lower portion.
My shriek shook the forest. The little soft creature that came out of my
torn body also screeched and the area reeked unpleasantly.
He let go off me.
Did he want to snatch the freshly born creature form me and drift it off in
the ocean? He watched the creature soft like clay in amazement. Then he
examined me and himself. Suddenly he discovered a little red fruit stone
inside the infant’s furry body. He made small clapping sounds and roared in
wonder that echoed across the forest. I knew this was a signal to gather his
friends.
I wanted to race but
screamed in pain. I cried for the child I gave birth. They all come back.
They snatch my child from me. My wail echoed against the mountains and steps
of stones. Abruptly it grew very dark. I could smell the salty ocean and
fish. The huge trunks of elephants came falling on me from the ocean. The
far away smoky mountains also seem to fall upon me. The cloudy bears came
storming at me. The beasts with horns and horses came racing through the
stony pass…clip, clop…clip, clop…clip, clop.
When I woke up it
was bright everywhere. A fire was made near by with dried leaves and twigs.
Every one around had stones that sparkled red light like flies and I could
hear a roaring sound of a gigantic beast coming down from the mountains. I
was surprised to see them still taking turn to carry my baby. They did not
drift it in the sea. They were all comparing its red ball with their dark
fish like lump dangling in the lower part of their body. Their sharp teeth
gleamed through their thick lips in happiness. They danced around the baby
in happiness. I understood they would not sacrifice my baby to the god of
sea or volcano. They discovered something new in this child that made them
happy and gained them confidence. Then did they arrange the fire to
sacrifice me? I had goose bump in fear. I could feel fear in my torn and
bleeding body. They burst out laughing as they kept scrutinizing the hanging
testicle between their thighs. I could see their lumps erected like the
sharp branches of trees that shed off bark. Some of them roared in happiness
and came rushing towards me seeing me awake. My furs rose in alertness. The
nerves on my tired eyes became intense. I kept running with all my might not
knowing whether I was running towards the sea, the forest or the stony pass.
I kept racing and speeding further.
They kept me in a
cave. I could not run for long. I was too weak and bleeding a lot. The inner
parts of my body were coming out. I slapped them in with my hand and rolled
on the stony path. But I was surprised that they did not jump on me like a
horse like before or push me down the cliff to the mountain god or burn my
hair to kindle the fire. They brought me back on their shoulder.
I was much better
now. A lot of leaves and vines were tied around me. The bleeding stopped and
clotted. It was dark in the cave but I saw others like me. Some of them
still had very bloated bodies and other had little infants in their laps. I
looked for mine and heard it cry beside me in the dark. When I bent towards
it, the infant easily found my tits and kept sucking. I felt as if all my
pains were gone and sleep engulfed me.
We came out of the
caves. We were now visibly two distinct groups. We who lived in the caved
understood that we could produce little ones like us and take care of them
which they can not. Now they did not tear us apart and kill us like they did
previously thinking we were ominous creatures and rather took care of us
now. They were also giving us away our infants. Because we take of the young
ones we could not run about with them in search of food in the forest or the
sea. On the other hand we skinned their hunted animals, made the fire,
looked for water and seeds, cleaned the caves and kept it cozy. They also
cared for us for what we did for them and they divided us amongst them. They
made it clear to us that it was for them we could give birth. We kept on
giving birth. They often snatch upon each others possession. They jumped on
us like wild horses and perforated their hooves until they impregnate us
with a child. We gave birth to two kinds of creatures—some like them and
some like us. When the children who resembled them grew a little old they
would take them away with them. We strung stone or bone spears in vine
garlands, polished on rocks and hung them on their neck. On their first day
of hunting, we all drew pictures of huge animals on rocks in open places
with sharp stone weapons together. In the drawings we also pierced arrows in
their eye, ear or navel. They wear their spears and circles around the
picture. We tied wreathes made of flowers and fruits around their head. We
pierced the skin of our own ribs and smeared their spears in blood so that
they can hunt big animals with it. We also cut our feet to smudge their feet
with our blood so that both our power can combine to chase animals. Now we
understood they were much stronger than us. We wanted them to be stronger
with our combined effort.
They really became
stronger. Their muscles grew stronger and roared like the tree trunks. With
their strength their intelligence also sharpened. They became more
intelligent than their antecedents. The youngsters could not only kill wild
animals but also caught them alive. They tied the animals with vines in the
forest or kept them in underground cells and slaughtered them later. We
celebrated on the day when these caught animals were slaughtered. We made
fire and danced around it.
One when we
slaughtered an animal a similar small creature like that came out of its
body. They became so happy that day that they danced lifting us on their
shoulder. We also danced with our children on our shoulder. Then we were
divided into several smaller groups. The strong ones, we and our children
were divided to all the groups. The meat and the live animals belonged to
the strong ones. We had the fruits, seeds, roots and fish with us. We
searched for a place to keep all our belongings and spend the night near a
place where there was both water and fire. We found two kinds of living
animals. One of the kinds could give birth like us. Their belly also grew
big like and their tits dropped to the ground and emit sweet sap. The other
kind had none of these. They had strong hooves, horns teeth and sharp
tongue. They were strong like our strong ones. They stamped violently and
sparked fire under their hooves. They have strong neck but our strong ones
were not scared of them. They discovered many techniques to catch these
animals. They whipped them up with thorny vines, do not feed the animals for
days and burnt their fur. They pierced their nostrils and tied their heads
wild vines to trees. Our strong ones rode on them and yelled in happiness.
They had thorny sticks on their hands. The animals sped in fear. They burst
out laughing as they rode on the animals. Their laughter echoed through the
dusty winds. An avalanche took place and stones started rolling down and
kindled sparks. They ran onward and went beyond our sight. We became worried
if they were lost in the sea, forest or the mountain. We waited eagerly to
hear the roar of the wild beasts and the triumph of our strong ones but we
heard nothing. We assumed that the wild animals probably furiously pushed
our strong ones from the mountain cliffs. Meanwhile we had lost our strength
by looking after young ones and animals and had no stamina or enthusiasm to
hunt animals or look for food in the forest. Most of the time, we prepared
food and made the living space comfortable for every one in the clan even if
we were heavy in pregnancy. We became worried who would do our heavy work if
the strong ones did not return.
Fortunately the
strong ones surprised us before night fall. Our strong ones returned. They
were riding on the wild animals and laughed out loud habitually. They still
had the green wreathes made of vine, flowers and fruits. One of them hung a
dead animal on his shoulder. His entire face, hands and chest was painted in
blood with arrows, three myrobalans and spears. We were taken aback to see
the animals tamed not running wild like before. They were coming straight in
great speed. They steered the animals in the right direction with their
thorny whips and vine reigns. They were able to stop the animals too.
Everyone got down from the animals and knelt down in respect before the man
with painted spears. We did the same. That strong one was the clan leader.
We prepared the best food and comfort for the chief and other strong
victors. The strong ones inserted stones inside the animal’s hooves so that
made sharp trotting sounds through the mountain pass. They wanted to spread
the clip clop sound wide and far to other tribes across the horizon.
The horses of the
leader of the strong ones galloped. The trotting sound of the horses echoed
through the horizons. We watched them galloping. Our younger strong ones
leaped in happiness too. Out little strong ones each grew up as strong
chiefs. We kept on watching the horses.
“What are you
watching?”
“I watch the
horses.”
“What do you see?”
“Horses…”
– Translated by Masrufa Ayesha Nusrat
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